A 20

Premium headphone amplifier

This new headphone amplifier from beyerdynamic is perfect for all headphone applications and provides dual outputs for shared listening with a partner.

Superior Sound

The circuit of the A20 is designed based on our legendary A 1 reference headphone amplifier. The discrete output stage provides plenty of power even for high-impedance headphones while the dynamic, open and precise sound sets the A 20 apart from what can be found in the normal output stages of regular amplifiers or receivers. This is confirmed by its first-class circuitry and excellent technical specifications that provide a balanced sound for long periods of comfortable listening.

High build-quality and nice looks

Made of brushed aluminum, the housing of the A 20 is especially solid and resonance-free. Due to the innovative chassis design, no screws are visible on the external surfaces. Equipped with an original ALPS potentiometer for variable volume control, a knob turned from solid aluminum completes the attractive yet robust look of this amplifier.

Simple and Flexible

With a high-gain RCA input, the A 20 works easily with most sources. The input signal can be looped through and is entirely free from signal-loss thanks to the hard-wired RCA output. Due to the built-in power supply, which is connected via a detachable power cord (supplied), no external power supply is needed avoiding disturbing background noise. Thanks to the dual headphone jacks on the front, two people can listen to the A 20 together without an adapter cable.

The effect with the A 20 is really amazing: When the headphone is connected to an iPad or other music sources for the first time, you will experience your headphones in a completely new way. Suddenly each instrument sounds more powerful, natural and the sound is more spatial.

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The unsophisticated, noble design of brushed aluminium is also impressive.

How does it sound? Admittedly, I wanted to sound this out and tested it with a headphone which easily costs twice as much as the A 20 (...).

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Indeed, this mismatch suited each other right from the start. Stéphane Huchards’ "Panamerican" album was played, thrilling fusion music with a focus on drums (...). The sound of the A 20 is sparkling clean and fresh. Intense drum passages are passed on to the headphone without delay which is impressive due to its very clear, transparent and detailed sound.

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Short and green: The beyerdynamic A 20 operates according to the slogan “We are doing what we can“—not more, not less, no fancy gadgetry, but with verve and enthusiasm. Great.

The result, especially with the T 90 is, well how to describe it best? … simply perfect! The explosive dynamic of the T 90 is clearly heard as well as the superb warmth and transparency. The bass is absolutely deep and can be heard to the last vibrations. Another strength of the Tesla headphones, to which the T 90 also belongs, is that they can reproduce reverberations of drumheads and string instruments absolutely authentic giving them a special natural character. The A 20 supports this property with a persistent monitoring of the connected headphones.

The similarity to the A 1 was not only visible, but could also remarkably be heard. The small beyerdynamic amplifier played broad and clean sounds, especially when using headphones with 300 ohms or more. From the drums and synth mix of “Me and My Drummer” to the concert of Trondheim Solistene, it always remained smooth in all voice ranges, great in the reproduction and reliably stable to the deepest frequencies.